Or does removing the original P&W’d screw up the barrel.
Looking at this upper
https://palmettostatearmory.co...k-pinned-welded.html

But I want would rather have a YHM QD muzzle device P&W’d for a suppressor.

Is this something a competent gunsmith can do?

I just got one of those.

If I decide to remove it for whatever reason it would take me about 10 minutes to get it off with a die grinder and small carbide bit.

Then dimple the barrel for a new one, pin it and zap it shut.

When I was checking YT reviews on that upper one guy replaced his with something else.
It's easy enough to do if you're not a meathead.

I asked my barrel people that question. Their response was "Depends on how well it was done. Maybe. Maybe not."

They didn't lay a bead around the whole thing.
The FH is sacrificial at this point, wouldn't take much to expose enough of the pin to pull it out.


Or slice and split the FH with a chisel.

Generally speaking, it should be able to be done.

Without looking at the exact configuration. There is no reason you can't get it off the barrel without harming the barrel. To your question myself I would assume (some but not lots) of experience the removed device is junk.

The "normal" method of pin & weld is to drill into the side of the flash hider and partially into the threaded portion of the barrel to form a blind hole, then insert a short pin into that hole, and weld over the top of the pin on the exterior of the flash hider. (flash hider or whatever muzzle device). This fixes the pin in place, the pin is preventing rotation of the flash hider, bob's your uncle.

Removing the weld, thus freeing the pin and therefore the flash hider, is as simple as removing it. Mill it off, grind it off, dremel it off. Hopefully.

There are many methods to permanently attach a flash hider to a barrel to meet the legal requirement. Silver soldering or brazing the flash hider in place I believe qualifies, as would a penetrating weld to attach the flash hider to the barrel. If the PSA upper comes and looks like the photo posted by powermad, that's what a weld over top of a blind pin in the side of the barrel typically looks like and that's quite probably what they did. But I don't know how PSA does it.

This vendor charges $45 to unpin, and $60 to pin in place, $90 to do both together. I'm presuming his pricing is balanced between "typical" jobs easy/quick, with a little insurance to cover the oddball bastards that come across his bench that require extra time, tools, and sometimes replacing parts if he screws up real bad. I doubt either is a full hour of his time at those prices, but the difference in price might represent the difference in time/difficulty/cost/risk in either operation.

https://www.dwilsonmfg.com/Pin...ld-removal_p_35.html
https://www.dwilsonmfg.com/Pin-and-Weld_p_18.html

If a gunsmith is charging significantly more than that there's something off.

Last pinned and welded flash hider I removed took 5 minutes to take off. Angle grinder to get through the weld, then a strong magnet while working the flash hider back and forth removed the pin in short order. After that, you do whatever you wish. My new suppressor mount has the pre-drilled hole welded, who knows what is under the hole?